Time Warner Buys The US Postal Service

Postal regulators have accepted a proposal from media giant Time Warner
that would stifle small and independent publishers in America. The plan
unfairly burdens smaller publishers with higher postage rates while
locking in special privileges for bigger media companies.

After almost a year of hearings, last month the Bush-appointed US
Postal Service Board of Governors tossed out their own staff
recommendations and at the last minute approved a 758-page plan
submitted by Time Warner that will increase mailing costs between 18
and 30 percent a year for small-circulation magazines like Mother Jones, while postal costs for the big guys – Time, Newsweek, People
– will actually go down. The Board of Guvs opened up their decision to
public comment for a grand total of 8 days, and then scheduled it to go
into effect this coming July.

McChesney notes the new postal rates “were developed with no public
involvement or congressional oversight (in a scheme) drafted by (media
giant) Time Warner, the largest magazine publisher in the nation.”
McChesney believes responsible postal bureaucrats failed to consider
how adverse their action is to a free and open press. This writer’s
view is darker, however, believing it’s another example of dirty
political machinations with corporate America telling government and
bureaucrats to jump and their responding how high.